Ten Ways Giving Back Helps You

There’s a deep wave of grassroots giving back sweeping the country. We want to feel useful. We want to find meaning. We want to know we matter. We want to feel this alive and on fire with possibility. Here are some ways serving others can serve you.

You Stay Hopeful and Optimistic

"I've never felt such an amazing sense of community," says Amanda Anderson-Green, a then twenty-five-year-old medical researcher from Seattle who spent three weeks on a Cross-Cultural Solutions volunteer vacation in Ghana through Travelocity's Travel for Good program. Each morning, she loved walking along red-dirt roads lined with women and children who'd smile and greet her as she went to volunteer at a center with HIV-positive people and AIDS orphans. "I was struck by the simplicity of it. People talked with me as if I was their neighbor.

They were so open, friendly, and accepting. They'd put their arms around me and thank me for coming." Now back in Seattle, she says, "I am still receiving the gifts from my trip. I knew I would have a rewarding adventure, but I had no idea how much going abroad would impact my views of community, happiness, and service here at home."